April 6, 2007

The MGH, city recognize Charles/MGH revitalization

Fifteen thousand people — approximately 5,500 of them MGHers — pass through the Charles/MGH T stop each day. Over the past four years, these commuters have witnessed the station's complete overhaul, from 1930s relic to ultramodern gateway to the city of Boston.

Officials from the MGH, Partners HealthCare, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the cities of Boston and Cambridge and the Federal Transit Authority gathered at the station March 27 to celebrate its modernization and the MGH's involvement in the project. Approximately 80 people were on hand to hear speeches from Partners HealthCare President and Chief Executive Officer James J. Mongan, MD; Senior Vice President for MGH Administration Jean Elrick, MD; Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino; MBTA Chief Daniel Grabauskas; and others.

In 2002, the MGH, then under the leadership of Mongan, contributed $2.5 million to the $36 million project, and over the course of the construction, Elrick and Tom Glynn, chief operating officer of Partners HealthCare, engaged the city and local communities in ongoing dialogue to coordinate the work safely and efficiently.

"We were very pleased to have been able to contribute to the redesign and renovation of the Charles/MGH Station, which serves thousands of MGH patients, employees and neighborhood residents on a daily basis," said Mongan, who arrived at the event via the MBTA Red Line. He recollected how, while a commuter to the MGH from Cambridge in 1996, he recognized the station's dilapidation as an obstacle for patients and employees alike and expressed great satisfaction in the new station's ease of access.

Elrick agreed, saying, "People's lives are easier and better thanks to this new station.
It is a wonderful improvement for MGH patients and staff."

Among the new station's features are two elevators, two escalators, wider staircases, electronic message boards, new overhead speakers, emergency call boxes and eight
surveillance cameras on the platforms and in the lobby. Menino thanked the MGH and MBTA for this contribution to the city, noting with pride that the new station "will help make Boston a better city for people with disabilities."

From left, Grabauskas, Elrick, Mongan, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen, FTA Administrator James Simpson, Menino, Cambridge Mayor Kenneth Reeves and Massachusetts State Sen. Robert Havern